| Morgan
Heritage is very much a family affair.
It's a full band, all consisting out of the
originally African Jamaican Morgan Family.
The patriarch is Denroy Morgan, by the way.
The music of their art is roots, performed
in a rather contemporary way. Even on stage,
this shows.
Morgan Heritage gave a wonderfull
performance at the famous Paradiso Hall in
Amsterdam, Netherlands. So wonderfull, that
the band decided to release an Amsterdam
concert on CD. A concert similar to the one
you can watch for free online.
After reading our review, of course.
The band got a lot of their fame for
releasing a tune called "Don't Haffi
Dread To Be Rasta". It's also the
opening tune for the Amsterdam concert. By
the way: another group (the legendary Black
Uhuru) disagreed and released a tune called
"Af Fi Dread To Be Rasta".
This
showed at least just how popular Morgan
Heritage is.
And their popularity isn't undeserved
either as you'll agree after watching the
concert, which lasts over 1 1/2 hour by the
way. The video itself is recorded
professionally as well. Several camera's
capture the energetic event. The band is
tight, very professional. The singing is
marvelous, performed by different members.
And the music? Soulfull.
There's an overkill in One Drop rhythms,
though. Where are the steppers and the
two-drops?
Anyway...
Morgan Heritage is obviously a band with
an individual reportoire. Every musician has
short moments of solo-ing. There are also
(way too) short sessions of drum and bass. A
great moment is the time in which the band's
female heyboard payer introduces
herself.
As the Band's
official Website shows, the
musical and cultural foundation is as much
American as it is Jamaican. The Morgan
family listened to all kinds of music, from
Punk to New Wave to R&B. They claim that
this had a tremendous influence, and we
agree.
It can definitely be heard in Morgan
Heritage's music: there's really a lot of
American style rapping going on, for
example. The Rock Guitar isn't forgotten, an
repeatly we're treated to a dose of
distortion. Some tracks are played ballad-style.
Too much, in our perception. It could have
been removed in order to make the vibe more
roots. There's allready much too much
"Americanism" in Reggae anyway.
This doesn't mean you can look at Morgan
Heritage as if it is a cross-over band,
though. Technically, and also heartically,
the music is definitely pure Roots Reggae.
The video proofs it!
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